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Massive Gamma Ray Bubbles Discovered In Milky Way

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the that-was-me-sorry-i-ate-beans dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Two huge, mysterious gamma ray-emitting bubbles have been discovered at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, US astronomers said... The structure spans more than half of the visible sky, from the constellation Virgo to the constellation Grus, and it may be millions of years old."

115 comments

  1. fp by rshxd · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    nuke norway plz

    1. Re:fp by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Funny

      "So I says to him, 'Jesus quit farting in the bathtub!', but by my Holy Ghost, do you think he'll listen?"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:fp by bobdotorg · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Perhaps it's just a case of bad gas caused by God eating the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

      --
      __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
    3. Re:fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it was God choking on my semen.

    4. Re:fp by rbmyers · · Score: 1

      Want to know why slashdot is dying? Read this post and its predecessor and note the moderation.

    5. Re:fp by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Eh? One's got a +1 "Funny", and the other one isn't moderated at all. What the hell are you going on about?

    6. Re:fp by rbmyers · · Score: 1

      The moderation has changed since I made my comment. What I am going on about is that slashdot is awash in troll posts trying to be funny and moderation that doesn't seem to mind.

    7. Re:fp by rbmyers · · Score: 1

      Actually, the original post still has a +3 (funny).... "Jesus quit farting in the bathtub..." What's the average age here? Eight?

    8. Re:fp by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      The moderation has changed since I made my comment.

      Well if one has a +1, and the other has nothing, that would mean that neither comment was moderated when you made your comment. Soooo .... you were complaining about moderation, because both comments hadn't yet been moderated?

      I fail to see the logic.

      What I am going on about is that slashdot is awash in troll posts trying to be funny and moderation that doesn't seem to mind.

      I don't think you actually understand what the word "troll" means, since neither of those comments fit the definition.

    9. Re:fp by rbmyers · · Score: 1

      I was referring to the original post, not to one of the comments that had been suppressed. Both of the comments I referred to had been moderated, and the original moronic and offensive post still has a +3. As to whether I know what the word troll means or not: 1. I refuse to get into arguments about terminology with people who are 1e6 smarter than you are. 2. If you want a flame war, go for it. I was using the word flame before there was an Internet to use it on. Don't try to tell me what the words of hackerdom mean, because I was around when the word hacker first came into use. In order to hack, you generally had to know how to use at least a screwdriver.

    10. Re:fp by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Both of the comments I referred to had been moderated, and the original moronic and offensive post still has a +3.

      No, it has a +1. If you're seeing the number "3" beside it, that's because comments start off with a 1, some get an automatic bonus of 1 for karma, and the +1 that he actually got from moderation makes it a total of 3. For me it shows up as 2, since I have the karma thingy turned off. Either way, complaining that the guy got one fucking mod point is pretty dumb. It would still be dumb if his comment were a troll, and it's even more dumb when we consider that his comment is actually mildly amusing. Despite what some fascists might think, a shitty joke is not the same as trolling.

      I was using the word flame before there was an Internet to use it on.

      Yah, me too. Had multiple meanings, too, including something you'd make with fuel, oxygen, and a spark, as well as being a descriptive term for the behavior of certain homosexual men. Not sure what that has to do with the usage of the word "troll" as it pertains to online communities, though.

      Don't try to tell me what the words of hackerdom mean, because I was around when the word hacker first came into use. In order to hack, you generally had to know how to use at least a screwdriver.

      Well I know how to use a screwdriver, a wrench, AND a hammer. In fact, if I remember correctly, the latter was the primary troubleshooting tool for pre-internet computers. So .... how many internets do I win?

    11. Re:fp by rbmyers · · Score: 1

      Both of the comments I referred to had been moderated, and the original moronic and offensive post still has a +3.

      No, it has a +1. If you're seeing the number "3" beside it, that's because comments start off with a 1, some get an automatic bonus of 1 for karma, and the +1 that he actually got from moderation makes it a total of 3. For me it shows up as 2, since I have the karma thingy turned off. Either way, complaining that the guy got one fucking mod point is pretty dumb. It would still be dumb if his comment were a troll, and it's even more dumb when we consider that his comment is actually mildly amusing. Despite what some fascists might think, a shitty joke is not the same as trolling.

      It was not a shitty joke. It was an offensive joke about good science from someone who clearly had nothing better to say. It was a troll and should have been moderated accordingly. Slashdot has been inundated by comments like that. As to what "troll" means, you can seek various sources to support various definitions. To me, a troll is an offensive, off-topic or patently silly remark intended either to get attention or to disrupt the conversation without advancing it or both.

      I was using the word flame before there was an Internet to use it on.

      Yah, me too. Had multiple meanings, too, including something you'd make with fuel, oxygen, and a spark, as well as being a descriptive term for the behavior of certain homosexual men. Not sure what that has to do with the usage of the word "troll" as it pertains to online communities, though.

      Flame in the sense it was originally used by real hackers meant just one thing: to tell someone in scorching and unforgettable terms that he had just made a complete fool of himself by saying something technically flawed in an obvious way. You don't have a clue what hackers originally hacked. Consider yourself flamed.

      Don't try to tell me what the words of hackerdom mean, because I was around when the word hacker first came into use. In order to hack, you generally had to know how to use at least a screwdriver.

      Well I know how to use a screwdriver, a wrench, AND a hammer. In fact, if I remember correctly, the latter was the primary troubleshooting tool for pre-internet computers. So .... how many internets do I win?

      Shows how much you actually know. A soldering iron would have been much more helpful than a wrench and a hammer, and hacking had nothing to do with computers.

    12. Re:fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't have a clue what hackers originally hacked. Consider yourself flamed.

      You must have a huge cock.

      No wait, you must be a huge cock. Yeah, I think that's it.

  2. Ooops ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sorry, that was me. I made beans and rice this weekend.

  3. Systematic Error by biryokumaru · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So they used noisy data to try and algorithmically guess what was hidden behind a bunch of "fog" and got a giant bubble, and now their conclusion is "there's a giant bubble!" and not "Maybe we have a systematic error in our analysis..."? To be fair, it's possible there is a giant bubble, I don't know the math here, but it seems... suspect.

    Anyway, this article sounds way cooler.

    --
    When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    1. Re:Systematic Error by clang_jangle · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, I found another source where they managed to enhance the image of one of them and it really is a bubble.

      --
      Caveat Utilitor
    2. Re:Systematic Error by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obviously the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics needs to hear from you immediately. Clearly you have a super-human insight that surpasses teams of expert astrophysicists. I'll bet their doctorates aren't worth the paper they're printed on. What unmitigated gall, releasing these findings without considering simple limitations of algorithmical analysis. Thank you internet for saving the world once again.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    3. Re:Systematic Error by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      Nah, scientists never think to consider systematic error. It's up to random Slashdot "readers" to remind them.

    4. Re:Systematic Error by Pojut · · Score: 1

      "SHERRIF PERRY. You are violating my territorial bubble." -Milton Dammers

      --
      Living With a Nerd
    5. Re:Systematic Error by biryokumaru · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Something's wonky here. I've gotten at least ten emails notifying me of this reply.

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    6. Re:Systematic Error by superflippy · · Score: 1

      It's not exactly a bubble, it's more like a void. Peter Hamilton was prescient.

      --
      Your fantasies contain the seeds of important concepts.
    7. Re:Systematic Error by biryokumaru · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Um, regardless of origin, a lot of findings can be a little suspect. Particularly if they aren't published findings.

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    8. Re:Systematic Error by oldhack · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      That's right, bow down before the hallowed parchments. Superstitious ignint twit.

      --
      Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    9. Re:Systematic Error by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      IINM slashdot covered the "death star" story you linked to three years ago. Personally, I think both stories are at least interesting, if not fascinating.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    10. Re:Systematic Error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      How is it a joke gets modded informative?

    11. Re:Systematic Error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's right, bow down before the hallowed parchments. Superstitious ignint twit.

      You don't need to be a prick.

      Um, regardless of origin, a lot of findings can be a little suspect. Particularly if they aren't published findings.

      The article states that the findings are going to be published:

      The structure spans more than half of the visible sky, from the constellation Virgo to the constellation Grus, and it may be millions of years old, the astronomers said in a paper The Astrophysical Journal has agreed to publish.

    12. Re:Systematic Error by niklask · · Score: 1

      You do realize that even CfA people aren't experts in all fields, right? Doing Fermi-LAT is very tricky in the Galactic plane and only maybe a handful of people in the LAT team know how to do it correctly. That being said, this result isn't necessarily wrong but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

    13. Re:Systematic Error by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I do do not suggest that degrees are magical things that make one automatically right. I do imply that it's unlikely that some random person from the internet has outmaneuvered a team of experts with decades of combined experience in five minutes on a post on /. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No. Is it so absurd as to be to some degree insulting? Yeah, that's the point.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    14. Re:Systematic Error by ThePeices · · Score: 1

      My god, please dont expose your ignorance like that in public, its embarrassing. Makes me cringe.

      You have no idea that the method they used is perfectly fine. Finding a signal that is below the "noise floor" is used in many, many systems, for example GPS.

      Finding a "signal" embedded in the "noise" of the gamma ray fog is nothing special, and does not immediately show a systematic error in the method. These people are scientists, they are well aware of these things.

      Give the educated people who know craploads more in their field than you some credit.

    15. Re:Systematic Error by nanospook · · Score: 1

      hahaha You totally got me with this one!

      --
      Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
    16. Re:Systematic Error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh no someone is denigrating the good name of science, jump on him quickly! It could be theoretical assumptions and BS but dear lord think of the principles, the scientists must not be stopped

    17. Re:Systematic Error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh shut the fuck up and learn that an argument from authority is a logical fallacy.

      Fucking dimwits thinking they're being smart and intelligent with their knee-jerk "but the experts say" attitude. Do they realize they're the source of just about every single god damned problem humanity has?

      Systematic error indeed.

  4. I don't see it by denshao2 · · Score: 1

    I looked at the photo and it doesn't look like bubbles.

    1. Re:I don't see it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Darn turtles.

    2. Re:I don't see it by PsyciatricHelp · · Score: 1

      thats because its a gamma ray bubble. it looks different that normal bubbles.

    3. Re:I don't see it by Volante3192 · · Score: 1

      Does it look like Buttercup or Blossom then?

    4. Re:I don't see it by JustOK · · Score: 1

      THIS is Bubbles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ITUYo7CRg0

      Phenomenommenom explained.

      And what the fuck is refuckulate?

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    5. Re:I don't see it by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Look again.

      See the two, red, bubble shaped things? Right in the middle there. Sort of coming off the center in a bubbly sort of way.

      Those are the bubbles.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    6. Re:I don't see it by Brandonski · · Score: 1

      I just walked outside and looked. I don't see it either.

    7. Re:I don't see it by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      This NASA illustration does.

      Startled astronomers said Tuesday they had discovered two massive bubbles of gamma-ray energy extending 25,000 light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way galaxy like a squat hourglass.

      "They're big, they're sharp-edged and they contain a lot of energy," astrophysicist Douglas Finkbeiner of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., said in a news conference. Finkbeiner led a team that used data from NASA's 2-year-old orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to discover the bubbles hiding behind a fog of gamma rays.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    8. Re:I don't see it by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Look again.

      See the two, red, bubble shaped things?

      colornazi

      Those would be purplish. Time to calibrate that monitor!

      /colornazi

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  5. A proposed mechanism for these bubbles exists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dark Taco Bell.

    This is also responsible for the increasing expansion of the universe.

  6. Who's behind it? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    The Pentagon denies that its gamma-ray bubbles were operating near the galactic center 25,000 years ago, and the State Department is being tight-lipped as well.

    1. Re:Who's behind it? by i_ate_god · · Score: 1

      maybe because it's actually the chinese who are behind it and the US doesn't want to start a panic?

      --
      I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
    2. Re:Who's behind it? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      That's a decent theory- the Chinese are blowing bubbles with gamma rays in an effort to meet their future energy needs.

    3. Re:Who's behind it? by sgt_doom · · Score: 1

      And that missile thingy the other day, nearby Los Angeles? That was Astro Boy!

    4. Re:Who's behind it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      whooosh...

  7. Black hole formation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm sure I'm missing something, but I thought gamma ray bursts could occur as a result of black hole formation, which I thought was quite prevalent in the center of the galaxy. Wouldn't this be (or why isn't this) the top suspect?

    1. Re:Black hole formation? by cusco · · Score: 1

      In the center of some galaxies, fortunately not ours since IIRC they would scour life off the surface of Earth that happened to be facing that way.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    2. Re:Black hole formation? by BigSes · · Score: 1

      IIRC, being that we are towards the outer edge of the galaxy, and that its believed that the Milky Way's supermassive blackhole is "dormant" (as much as a blackhole can be, it is no longer ravenously eating the gas around it and producing the large gamma ray bursts or quasars), our solar system would not be affected by the tremendous gravity. If the blackhole just disappeared completely, many stars on the outer edge of the Milky Way would continue on their original path and speed, unaffected by the sudden lack of the black hole's gravity, because that isn't what is keeping them on their current orbital path.

    3. Re:Black hole formation? by buchner.johannes · · Score: 1

      I'm sure I'm missing something, but I thought gamma ray bursts could occur as a result of black hole formation, which I thought was quite prevalent in the center of the galaxy. Wouldn't this be (or why isn't this) the top suspect?

      AFAIK the origin of Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) is not known yet (at least from the books I read, situation may have changed in recent years).
      This is about Gamma Ray "Bubbles" (not GRBs), which just means some structure emitting at gamma ray frequencies.

      Without having access to the article, I can only guess: Could those be the lobes/jets of our galaxy?

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    4. Re:Black hole formation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article says that these bubbles are "at the center of the Milky Way galaxy", but that's really a bit misleading. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, and these bubbles are each 25,000 light years across, one on either side of the center of the galaxy. Here's a rough diagram:

      o|o

      The "o"s are the bubbles, and the "|" is the plane of the galaxy. (This is a bit out of scale - the bubbles should be about half as big as they are here - but it gives you a rough idea.) So neither bubble is actually centred on the centre of the galaxy. They're also way too big to be the result of anything happening on the scale of a single star (like the formation of a stellar-mass black hole).

      There's another possible explanation, though. We see lots of galaxies that look like this:

      O===|===O ...where the big things sticking out to either side are jets (===) and lobes (O), which show up in radio waves and gamma rays, but not in visible light. So it's possible that our galaxy has a sort of a mini-version of these. (This is one of the possible explanations suggested in the article.)

  8. Mine. by QuantumBeep · · Score: 1

    My bubbles. They are MINE.

  9. now THAT by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    "Two huge, mysterious gamma ray-emitting bubbles"...spans more than half of the visible sky, from the constellation Virgo to the constellation Grus, and it may be millions of years old.

    Now THAT was some seriously bad Mexican food.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  10. Mod points by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

    To whoever makes the best sexual innuendo related to this article.

    1. Re:Mod points by decoy256 · · Score: 1

      In other news... Not to be outdone by some mere galaxy, Dolly Parton has contacted her cosmetic surgeon to see if implants come in "Gamma-Ray Bubble" size.

    2. Re:Mod points by thechemic · · Score: 1

      Scientist discover the galaxy is female. With massive & swollen bubbles, she is capable of bathing newly born stars in showers of life giving energy.

      --
      Let's make like a bird... and get the flock outta here.
    3. Re:Mod points by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Gamma Ray Bubbles" is actually Sarah Palin's Stripper name.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Mod points by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .... that was.... stupid.

  11. Wait a second... by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Massive [...] bubbles discovered in Milky Way? Are you kidding me?

    Are you telling me we're living inside a giant Aero chocolate bar?

  12. Gamma rays by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is why I eat Snickers instead.

    I have never eaten a gamma ray bubble with a Snickers.

  13. No need to worry yet by rcharbon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let me know when you start to see Puppeteers.

    1. Re:No need to worry yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pfff, Puppeteers would be long gone if this was any sort of risk. We should start panicking if we stop seeing them.

    2. Re:No need to worry yet by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

        We won't see the Puppeteers, they are long gone toward galactic north already.

        On the other hand, by the time we detect the Pak fleets coming from the core, it'll already be too late... they kill technological civilizations in their path.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  14. gamma ray bubbles? by yodleboy · · Score: 1

    hope this doesn't alter the taste of the creamy nougat.

  15. gas giants by gtall · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm...massive gas bubbles...and right after the U.S. election. Coincidence?

  16. Core Explosion? by KlomDark · · Score: 1

    Is this Larry Niven's core explosion? We'd better get to work on that scrith, or we'd better try and hitch a ride with Puppeteers...

  17. Judging the result based on a pop sci article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least glance through the paper:

    http://arxiv.org/abs/1005.5480

    1. Re:Judging the result based on a pop sci article? by JustOK · · Score: 1

      why, what does it say?

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    2. Re:Judging the result based on a pop sci article? by HiThere · · Score: 1

      It sounds more like gas jets to me. And they say they think it might have been caused by a large mass being swallowed by the central black hole. (I wonder what they mean by large? A globular cluster?) That would be expected to produce gas & radiation jets. I suppose the radiation would hollow out the gas jet, and viewed from certain angles it could resemble a bubble.

      If correct, what this means is that our central black hole has been active in "recent times". (How long ago?) This isn't surprising, though it seems to have currently cleared away all the matter that was near it.

      OTOH: I am not an astrophysicist. I'm a programmer. And I didn't really understand the article. This is just what I gleaned from it run through my normal models of the universe.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  18. THIS IS THE END MY FRIEND !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Linux still hasn't pentrated the desktop !! All these lives WASTED !! And for what ?? For beer money !!

  19. Spider Robinson by bornagainpenguin · · Score: 1

    Dammit, where are Mike and Mary Callahan when you need 'em?

    --
    Have a Virgin Mobile USA smartphone? Give VMRoms.com a try!
  20. Destiny's Mission by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So this is what the Ancients sent Destiny to investigate?

  21. Scan by obergfellja · · Score: 1

    is that a brain scan or a gamma scan?

  22. Hello by KingPin27 · · Score: 1

    God called - - he asked if you could stop peeking while He's taking a bath. Thanks.

    --
    "i lost my dignity on a slippery wiener"
  23. That's no bubble by p0p0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a space station.

    1. Re:That's no bubble by ByteSlicer · · Score: 1

      No. It's the galactic core explosion.

  24. Looks like gas jets to me by maillemaker · · Score: 1

    When I saw the picture the first thing it looked like to me were those giant gets you sometimes see shooting away from black holes. I assumed that this was from the black hole in the center of our galaxy. The article says it might be, but might also be from star formation.

    --
    A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
    1. Re:Looks like gas jets to me by thechemic · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I see. Gas jets, slightly curved, most likely due to the movement of our galaxy.

      --
      Let's make like a bird... and get the flock outta here.
    2. Re:Looks like gas jets to me by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      One article I saw said it could possibly be both. They really don't know. Another article said the scientists were "amazed".

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
  25. Yes, it is a bubble, but still ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    Look, I know it is a bubble, still I am going to invest in it. I am sure I will be able to sense when it is going to burst and get out in time, leaving rest of those morons from Morgan Stanley and hedge fund managers holding the bag. I know, I know I have lost the house in dotcom bubble and the car and computer in the housing bubble other, but this time it is going to be different. Third time is the charm. Really. Quitters never win and Winners never quit. It is all or nothing baby. I am on a roll.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Yes, it is a bubble, but still ... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I am sure I will be able to sense when it is going to burst and get out in time

      If you get too close to the source of those bubbles, the time's going to go REAL fast!

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
  26. Nothing unusual by thechemic · · Score: 1

    Dont these "bubbles" simply look like the jets of energy you see shooting out either end of a black hole? They're slightly curved, probably because our galaxy is moving. What the @#$% do I know. I dont even own a telescope. :/

    --
    Let's make like a bird... and get the flock outta here.
  27. Incredible? No. by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    That amount of gamma radiation is going to create an Inconceivable Hulk!

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    1. Re:Incredible? No. by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      That amount of gamma radiation is going to create an Inconceivable Hulk!

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  28. In the milky way? by JustOK · · Score: 1

    pfft. Nothing strange about that. Call me when they discover bubbles around Uranus...
    No, wait. Don't.

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
  29. I feel a little cheated... by pr0nbot · · Score: 1

    My firefox RSS thingy had truncated the title to "Massive Gamma Ray Bubbles Discovered In Milk" which I think you'll agree would have been a much more interesting article :)

    1. Re:I feel a little cheated... by JustOK · · Score: 1

      so, you're crying over split milk?

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
  30. Proof. by Reeses · · Score: 1

    That the Milky Way is the only galaxy with balls big enough to create humans.

    --
    Reeses
  31. Reynolds was right! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously these bubbles are shrouds of warped spacetime devised by aliens to keep them secure from killer machines.

    We should poke them! Quick, someone invest monstrous quantities of money in the development of a galactic poking device!

  32. Evolution assistant by boristdog · · Score: 1

    Does the earth ever pass through the bubbles? If so, does our passing through correlate with more mutations and rapid evolution of various species in those times?

    Inquiring minds that are too lazy to correlate the data themselves want to know!

    1. Re:Evolution assistant by HiThere · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As I understand it:

      The earth passing through one of those bubbles would be more likely correlated with life having to start over. Perhaps some subducted radiodurans could survive, so we might not need to evolve DNA all over again. But one could expect all multicellular life to be killed, and most bacteria across all lines. That there would be surviving bacteria is not at all certain, but nothing else should be expected to survive.

      OTOH, most of the action is taking place outside the plane of the galaxy, so at no point in it's orbit of the galaxy does the sun enter the danger area.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    2. Re:Evolution assistant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

      Yeah, being bombarded by gamma rays is generally considered a Bad Thing in terms of biological survival. Sorry, boristdog.

    3. Re:Evolution assistant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, we should be entering it sometime in December 2012...

    4. Re:Evolution assistant by Urkki · · Score: 1

      Unless you have a reference, I'd suspect there would be very little effect on life on Earth when passing through those bubbles, for the same reason why gamma ray observatories are impractical on earth surface... There would probably be slightly increased cancer rates, and perhaps some atmospheric effects like auroras, but not much else.

    5. Re:Evolution assistant by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Well, of course it's a matter of intensity. I'm guessing it's high, you're guessing it's low. If it's high, the earth could lose most of it's water. (Well, this require long-lasting rather than just rather high intensity, but that's to be expected from this kind of phenomenon.)

      As to "no gamma ray telescopes", the "bubbles" have had their contents blown out of them, because everything opaque to gamma rays is pushed away. This would include such things as planetary atmospheres. But outgassing continues to happen, so after the earth left the area an atmosphere of sorts would build up again. Probably never to the current density, though. And the process might well kill tectonics, as the water that lubricates the plate movement would slowly move into the atmosphere to replace the low-vacuum that would remain.

      N.B. Jupiter probably wouldn't be much affected. Because it's gravity is high enough to hold on to Hydrogen atoms, even when they are moving relatively quickly.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  33. Original Article by Richard.Tao · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So far I am finding the original article an interesting read. (it's in the original article NYT article)
    It states that the bubble may be related to an ejection of the super massive black hole in the past 10 million years or so. You know those other galaxies that have giant lazer beams shooting out of them? Well, ours could have been like that at some point 10 million years ago. Kind makes sense that those SM black holes only occasionally and intermittently shoot stuff off, seems like just emissions like that would be hard to sustain for long periods of time. (and holy mother of Bohr, it was hard to not fall into sexual innuendo there)
    Also, as far as it being a data anomaly (which I thought first due to it's symmetry and the fact that we apparently never knew about it), it apparently correlates with "hard-spectrum excess known as the WMAP haze (and) the edges of bubble also line up with features in the ROSAT X-ray maps at 1.5 - 2 KeV."

  34. A Galactic Bubble Poem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Black hole farts are funny

    Black hole farts are fun

    Black hole farts are how

    Galactic bubbles get-er-done!

  35. S1/S2 Orbital? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hmmm, looks kind of like S1/S2 atomic orbitals from quantum mechanics.

    I don't see why Marijuana was turned down by the CA Legislature. Space is just as warped as your mind on THC ...

  36. At last! by gmuslera · · Score: 1

    New ideas for yo momma's so fat jokes

  37. um this isnt news by chronoss2010 · · Score: -1

    all black holes radiate gamma and xrays LOL they stop teaching in american schools now to save money....

  38. Yoohoo! by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    One is god, and the other is Jesus, end of story....move along, nothing to see here....

    1. Re:Yoohoo! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      And the Galaxy is the Holy Spirit?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  39. Are they that oblivious? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    It's simply the whipped creamy filling!

    What else is in a MilkyWay?

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  40. Belting us with Gamma Rays? by GammaKitsune · · Score: 1

    Ain't that unglamorous.

    --
    Gamertag: WyleType
  41. Artists rendition of the bubbles. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The size of the bubbles is truly fascinating.

    http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/498884main_DF3_Fermi_bubble_art_labels.jpg

  42. *used to* have a black hole? by magnamous · · Score: 1

    from the article:

    While the Milky Way's black hole lacks such a jet - which is powered by matter falling inside the black hole, scientists believe it may have had one millions of years ago.

    I thought that a black hole was a matter-&-light-gobbling monster that never stopped. What does the quote from the article mean? How does a black hole cease to exist? What happens to it?

    1. Re:*used to* have a black hole? by osu-neko · · Score: 1

      from the article:

      While the Milky Way's black hole lacks such a jet - which is powered by matter falling inside the black hole, scientists believe it may have had one millions of years ago.

      I thought that a black hole was a matter-&-light-gobbling monster that never stopped. What does the quote from the article mean? How does a black hole cease to exist? What happens to it?

      You misread. What it says we may have had one million years ago that we don't have now is "such a jet". We still have the black hole, but the jets are gone (if they were there, which frankly seems likely to me given the lingering bubbles, but IANAPA [I Am Not A Professional Astronomer]).

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    2. Re:*used to* have a black hole? by BigSes · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The large scale and rapid intake of surrounding gas and objects around the blackhole produces those jets. Once the feeding slows, or stops, the jets disappear. They are then considered to be in a dormant stage. I actually recall reading or hearing somewhere that its thought that the heat and friction of the gas/objects spinning into the blackhole becomes so intense that it begins to push away the very materials that feed the blackhole itself (and therfore feed the jets). So, the blackhole still exists, but is in a dormant phase. I am unsure if anyone acutally knows this to be a proven fact as to why blackholes stop feeding, or if its just speculation.

    3. Re:*used to* have a black hole? by magnamous · · Score: 1

      Both explanations were very helpful. Thanks!

  43. Thank you by Benfea · · Score: 1

    ...for making me smile today.

  44. Sounds familiar... by englishknnigits · · Score: 1

    Wasn't this excuse used in Men in Black? "The fog happens when particles moving near the speed of light interact with light and interstellar gas in the Milky Way."

  45. Astro Pic of the day by AlejoHausner · · Score: 1

    This one's on APOD: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101110.html

  46. The future is now by sgt_doom · · Score: 1
    Stop the bubbles....stop the bubbles. (Something about Lawrence Welk, methinks?)

    Actually, doesn't our solar system begin to line up with line-of-sight to the center of the galaxy? Hmmmm....that would be around 2012.....Uh oh....

  47. Without Googling him.... by sgt_doom · · Score: 1
    ...please explain to us who Andreas Albrecht is?

    Those thinking types amongst us will understand he is one of those truly intelligent physicists out there who don't necessarily believe in theories based upon theories based upon theories, etc..